The Demon Lord's Invasion

Chapter 21: The Little Puppet Shop

After eating a piece of wolf meat, Jiang Tang took a few gulps from his gourd and resumed making dolls. Since his signature puppet had been sold, Jiang Tang decided not to sell the first puppet he’d created himself; instead, he kept it as a memento. It took Jiang Tang only two days to complete his second doll. Although he wasn’t in the same meditative state as before, it turned out much prettier than the first one. “Huh? Why does this look a little familiar?” It was Dongfang speaking; he had become Jiang Tang’s assistant and was in charge of engraving runes onto the dolls. “Um…” Jiang Tang immediately felt embarrassed, because this doll bore a striking resemblance to the character from *The New White Snake Lady*. “Never mind, do as you please.” With that, Dongfang handed the doll’s body—now inscribed with runes—to Jiang Tang, then floated back to his own workbench to begin carving a rune array onto another doll with a body made of white jade wood. Meanwhile, Jiang Tang set the doll’s body down. With a flick of his mind, silver needles danced and whirled across the silk. In less than half an hour, a delicate, petite blue scholar’s skirt floated before him. Slipping the robe onto one of the dolls, Jiang Tang stroked his chin and said, “A double-bun hairstyle is cuter; black hair is best; almond-shaped eyes would suit it better…” As Jiang Tang worked, a charming and lovely doll took shape. Dongfang came over holding another doll’s body. After glancing at Jiang Tang’s new creation, he said irritably, “Two snake spirits make a pair.” “I just ran out of inspiration,” Jiang Tang grumbled. Innovation is no easy feat, after all. Dongfang said irritably, “The date the twin sisters set is only half a month away. Hurry up and make them—don’t waste time. We need to build up enough stock to open a shop as soon as possible.” Dongfang had always wanted to open a doll shop. After all, the 5% commission from the Hundred Treasures Pavilion was too high—last time, they’d taken twenty-five crystals for a single doll, leaving Dongfang feeling the financial sting for days. Half a month later, Jiang Tang and Dongfang appeared once again in the Immortal Pavilion. This time, Jiang Tang’s doll was still wearing that white robe, but he’d thrown on a dark gold cassock over it, covering up the four characters on his back. Jiang Tang took out a talisman and infused it with his demonic energy; instantly, the talisman transformed into a stream of light and vanished. “They’re already here. Let’s wait,” Jiang Tang said. He and Dongfang then stood outside the teleportation hall, waiting for the sister puppets to appear. They waited a full half-hour before two one-chi-tall, rough-hewn wooden figures finally appeared at the western end of the street. “Master Bai,” one of the wooden figures—with a blue glow emanating from the center of its chest—giggled coquettishly. It floated toward Jiang Tang first and began running its hands all over his doll, clearly taking great delight in it. “Cai’er, stop fooling around,” another wooden figure, with a white glow emanating from the center of its chest, hurried over and scolded her mischievous younger sister. Jiang Tang cut to the chase, pulling out the figurines of Bai Niangzi and Xiao Qing from his storage pouch and asking, “What do you think?” The two sisters looked at the dolls floating before them, both filled with delight and surprise. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? The green one’s mine, and the white one’s my sister’s. But the white one seems a bit prettier! Master Bai, aren’t you playing favorites?” the younger sister complained. “That’s right. Although the white one is slightly more stunning, the green one is much more charming and endearing—she really tugs at your heartstrings. Isn’t Master Bai being biased?” The older sister seemed displeased as well. However, as soon as she said this, the younger sister immediately hugged Xiaoqing and giggled, “Cai’er still likes this one.” The older sister shook her head, seemingly at a loss for words, then handed twenty crystals to Jiang Tang and said, “Thank you, Master Bai.” “I’m glad you like them. They’re not suited for combat, so please don’t use them outside under any circumstances. If you need combat puppets, you can have them custom-made.” With that, Jiang Tang handed a voice-transmission talisman to the older sister. This sound-transmission talisman bore his soul imprint, though it could only be used when both parties were inside the Immortal Pavilion. “In that case, I’m afraid we’ll be troubling Master Bai quite often in the future,” the older sister said. She then handed a voice-transmission talisman to Jiang Tang. After being tugged at by her younger sister, she waved goodbye to Jiang Tang and entered the teleportation hall. Inside the Immortal Pavilion, it’s best not to transfer one’s divine soul essence to another puppet, because few in the world know where the Immortal Pavilion actually is. Being far from one’s physical body and without the protection of a puppet, one’s divine soul essence could easily dissipate if one isn’t careful—even a slight loss would be extremely dangerous. “Let’s go,” Jiang Tang called out to Dongfang, and the two immediately floated toward a massive palace in the distance. This palace was not a marketplace but the Immortal Pavilion’s administrative office; anyone wishing to rent a shop had to come here. The moment they entered the palace, the two were instantly stunned. Hovering within the main hall was a massive, circular model made of ethereal light, with a diameter of no less than a hundred zhang. Numerous puppets floated within the ethereal model, seemingly searching for something. The largest of these virtual shop models was no bigger than a thumb—a puppet’s thumb, at that—and they were densely packed, scattered like stars, creating an incredibly magnificent sight. “The dim ones are probably the stalls that haven’t been rented out,” Dongfang said as he floated closer. Jiang Tang followed alongside him and said gloomily, “There aren’t many left, and most of them are in the corners.” “Fellow Daoists, are you looking to rent a stall?” Suddenly, a puppet dressed in Xian Zong robes floated up to them, its gaze fixating on Jiang Tang and Dongfang with a look of bewilderment. Xian Zong’s automaton was indeed well-crafted, but it still couldn’t compare to Dongfang’s—let alone Jiang Tang’s. “Are there any shops in the middle section?” Dongfang asked. Upon hearing this, the Xian Zong puppet snapped out of its daze and asked in return, “Oh, may I ask, Masters, how large a shop do you need?” “How did we become ‘masters’? Does putting on a monk’s robe make me a monk too?” Jiang Tang grumbled, while Dongfang said, “We don’t need a very large one, but the location should be as good as possible.” “Then please follow me, Masters,” the Xian Zong puppet said. He led the two of them through the virtual models for quite a while, recommending several decent shops, but Dongfang rejected them one by one. Some were too big, others too expensive. Finally, in Lane 173 on East Street, Dongfang set his sights on a small shop sandwiched between two larger ones. After paying two hundred crystals, Dongfang took three tokens from the Xian Zong automaton, and the matter was settled. Just as Jiang Tang and Dongfang were about to leave, the Xian Zong automaton suddenly drifted over again and addressed the two of them: “May I ask—were the automatons in the Hundred Treasures Pavilion not long ago crafted by those two masters?” “Huh? How did you know that?” Jiang Tang asked, puzzled. “The one who bought the doll was also a Xian Zong automaton,” Dongfang explained. Just as Jiang Tang was coming to understand, he suddenly heard the Xian Zong automaton across from him say, “If there are any more automatons like that, could I purchase one? Of course, I can’t afford the store’s prized treasure—just an ordinary female automaton will do. I’m planning to give it as a gift.” “Oh, twenty crystals each—take your pick.” Jiang Tang was clearly jacking up the price on the spot, but he didn’t bat an eye; he simply pulled out ten dolls, all of them female models. Suddenly faced with so many exquisitely crafted dolls—some radiantly beautiful, some gentle and kind, and some alluringly enchanting—the Xian Zong doll was momentarily dumbfounded. Finally, he pointed to a stunning doll with big, watery eyes and said, “I’ll take her. She bears a striking resemblance to the senior sister I’ve always admired!” With a wave of his hand, Jiang Tang retrieved nine of the dolls, handed the remaining one to the Xian Zong dollmaker, and walked away satisfied with twenty crystals in hand. “Holy crap, what a score! That’s really…” “Jiang Tang, you’re so stupid,” Dongfang suddenly interrupted Jiang Tang’s musings. “Get lost. You’re not happy about making a profit?” Jiang Tang snapped. “No, but you need to understand: the cost of these dolls is only about three crystals. You’ve multiplied your profit six or seven times in one go. It’ll be hard to keep this business going in the future. After all, beautifying dolls isn’t difficult for cultivators—with a year or two of practice, anyone could master your technique.” “But no one has time to practice,” Jiang Tang retorted. “You’re wrong,” Dongfang shook his head and continued, “If they cost ten crystals, there wouldn’t be many, but if they cost twenty crystals, I guarantee knockoffs will appear very soon.” “You’re already paying five hundred crystals per doll, and I…” Jiang Tang suddenly fell silent, let out a wry laugh, and drifted back. Soon, Jiang Tang drifted back out and said to Dongfang, “Are you satisfied now?” “They’re all sold out, and you’re still acting like an idiot by giving half the money back. Are you out of your mind?” Dongfang said, then drifted off toward East Street in a huff. Jiang Tang was furious and followed behind, cursing all the way. In truth, he understood: Dongfang could use the “flagship treasure” as an excuse for his sales, and since it wasn’t a forced sale—customers had the money and could pay whatever they wanted—they couldn’t use that as an excuse for their high prices. When he arrived at his own shop, Jiang Tang felt even more frustrated. What kind of place was this? In front of the shop lay a path of small stones, bordered by flowering trees; across the way, a small bridge spanned a babbling stream—the scenery was delightful. This spot was not far from the Teleportation Hall, and there were many puppets coming and going in the surrounding area. The large shop on the left sold spiritual medicines; it was called the Medicine King Hall, and it had quite a reputation. There was a Medicine King Hall in the outside world as well, where many low-level alchemists gathered. Their pills were inexpensive, of good quality, and extremely popular. Although many customers visit the Medicine King Hall, it doesn’t bring much business to Jiang Tang—because right next door is the Thousand Puppet Tower, run by Kui City! They’re a major sect specializing in puppet-making—opening a family-run puppet shop right next door to them is practically a provocation, isn’t it? “Business thrives on competition, and competition drives progress. All right, let’s go inside.” Dongfang took out a token and waved it. Instantly, a brilliant light flashed across the shop—which was only three zhang wide—and the main door swung open on its own. Jiang Tang also took out a token and waved it toward the sign; in the next moment, the four large characters “Little Puppet Shop” appeared. “Oh well,” Dongfang shook his head and floated into the shop. It was very spartan. Not only was the shop devoid of any decorations, but it didn’t even have curtains or shelves—clearly, the previous owner was a real tightwad! “We’ll set it up gradually. I’ll go inside and install the Immortal Pavilion disk,” Dongfang said, then floated into the inner room. Although the shop wasn’t wide, it was very long—a full eighteen zhang, which, by Dongfang’s calculations, amounted to six hundred square meters. That sounded large, but the first floor alone of the neighboring Medicine King Hall and Thousand Puppet Tower covered at least six thousand square meters! Behind the shopfront was a tea room, followed by a warehouse. Beyond the warehouse was a secret room, where Dongfang installed the Immortal Pavilion Disk. He had bought this Immortal Pavilion Disk immediately after selling it for five hundred crystals—proof that Dongfang was absolutely the kind of person willing to spend whatever it took to save time! By the time Dongfang emerged, Jiang Tang had already set up the display shelves and was beginning to arrange the mannequins on them one by one. Currently, he had twelve dolls left, three of which were male versions. Although the shop was small, it could easily hold over a hundred dolls, so having only twelve looked rather sparse. Dongfang took his workbench out of his storage pouch, placed another unprocessed doll—which looked like a lotus root—on it, and said, “I’ll be engraving runes on the dolls here and keeping an eye on the shop. You go back and continue processing them. Earn five thousand crystals within a year as quickly as possible.” “Will this even work? I’ve already sunk so many crystals into this.” Jiang Tang had never run a business before, so he felt incredibly uneasy! “Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon…” Dongfang hadn’t finished speaking when suddenly, a porcelain doll floated in through the doorway. Pointing at a doll on the shelf—clad in a fox-fur cloak and as seductive as Daji—she asked, “How much?” Dongfang didn’t say a word; instead, he pointed to a price sign. After the porcelain doll took a look, she tossed down ten crystals, then excitedly scooped up the alluring doll and flew away, beaming with joy. “Jiang Tang, you must remember: women are creatures who will sacrifice everything for beauty.” What else could Jiang Tang say? Time to go back to work!